The Philippine Star

Wildfire rips through California towns; residents flee

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REDDING (AP) — An explosive wildfire tore through two small Northern California communitie­s yesterday before reaching the city of Redding, killing a bulldozer operator on the fire lines, burning three firefighte­rs, destroying dozens of homes and forcing thousands of terrified residents to flee.

Flames swept through the communitie­s of Shasta and Keswick before jumping the Sacramento River and reaching Redding, a city of about 92,000 people and the largest in the region.

The so-called Carr Fire is “taking down everything in its path,” said Scott McLean, a CalFire spokesman for the crews battling the blaze.” It’s just a wall of flames,” he said.

Residents of western Redding who hadn’t been under evacuation orders were caught off guard and had to flee with little notice, causing miles-long traffic jams as flames turned the skies orange.

”When it hit, people were really scrambling,” McLean said. “There was not much of a warning. Many firefighte­rs turned their focus from the flames to getting people out alive. Really we’re in a lifesaving mode right now in Redding,” said Jonathan Cox, battalion chief with Cal Fire.

“We’re not fighting a fire. We’re trying to move people out of the path of it because it is now deadly and it is now moving at speeds and in ways we have not seen before in this area.”

Some residents drove to hotels or the homes of family members in safer parts of California, while other evacuees poured into a shelter just outside of town.

A reporter with KRCR-TV choked up as she reported live updates about the fire before the station had to go off the air later. Two news anchors told viewers that the building was being evacuated and urged residents to “be safe.”

 ?? AP ?? A house burns as the Carr Fire tears through Shasta in California on Thursday.
AP A house burns as the Carr Fire tears through Shasta in California on Thursday.

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